Federal agency investigates whether Binance was involved in Iran's Bitcoin deal: report

Summary of events

Federal prosecutors are investigating the world's largest crypto exchange carrier Binance ( Binance Holdings Ltd.) with a focus on whether its platform is being used by Iran-linked entities to trade in order to circumvent sanctions against Iran.

Background to Justice Department action: $81 million seized crypto asset

The investigation is not an isolated incident. Last week, the Department of Justice announced that it was seizing and seeking to confiscate approximately $61 million in assets allegedly derived from black market transactions involving sanctioned Iranian oil.

The Iranian side has previously been accused of using Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to circumvent the sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said in a statement that United States had begun taking action against regime-linked crypto wallet since April, adding that Iran's crypto asset was frozen, most of it for TADA's USDT .

Continued pressure on Iranian crypto activity

Last week, the Treasury Department also added Iran's crypto exchange BitBank to its sanctions list as part of a sweeping economic crackdown by the Trump administration on the Islamic Republic and its proxies.

Earlier this year, Iran launched an insurance service for its shipping companies backed by Bitcoin . Unlike many other cryptocurrency s, the Bitcoin itself is difficult to freeze.

History of compliance issues with Binance

Binance has no headquarters and is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Previously, the platform had been accused of failing to effectively intercept money flows related to cybertheft and terrorism, resulting in conflicts with regulators.[citation needed] Subsequently, United States exited the market and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine. Its founder and then-CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned after pleading guilty to violating regulations on AML , but was later pardoned by President Trump.[2]

As of now, Binance and the prosecution have not released any further details about this latest investigation.

(This article was adapted from Bitcoin Magazine, by Matthew Di Salvo)